Spy game: new allegations of pretexting and corporate espionage at HP

A former employee alleges that HP used him to spy on Dell and then attempted …

The spy scandal at HP started out small—an investigation into a corporate leak that soon turned to pretexting to gather information. In the wake of the incident, HP attempted to portray such actions as one-time events, but an ongoing court case against a former employee may indicate that pretexting isn't as uncommon at HP as management would like people to believe. Documents filed in the case also suggest that HP may have spied on Dell and obtained trade secrets about their printers. But are the allegations credible?

Fortune has just posted a lengthy look at the legal case against former HP employee Karl Kamb. It's an absolutely byzantine affair, but for our purposes, the case contains two intriguing claims: HP tried to grab Kamb's phone records through pretexting, and HP used Kamb to spy on Dell while Kamb was still an employee of HP's.

The allegations are contained in a filing by Kamb, who is currently fighting a lawsuit against HP. The company wants a truckload of money from Kamb and some others who allegedly were working for both HP and a startup LCD television manufacturer (who competed with HP) at the same time. As part of that lawsuit, Kamb made the counterclaims set out above—but the judge promptly ordered the claim removed and told Kamb that it had to be refiled under seal.

A spokesperson from Dell told the magazine that the allegations might in fact be credible and that it is looking into the matter. The article concludes that there is plenty of evidence to believe that Kamb is right, at least when it comes to the general outlines of his claims.

The allegations come as HP puts the first pretexting scandal behind it and tries to move on, and they are certain to raise questions about corporate culture at the company. HP has been doing well lately by several measures and has even taken over the top spot from Dell in PC shipments.